Financial Advisor thwarts £200,000 fraud (From Southend Standard)
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Financial Advisor thwarts £200,000 fraud
3:36pm Thursday 15th November 2012 in Echo News
A FINANCIAL advisor thwarted a £200,000 scam after spotting an offer was too good to be true.
It happened after a 35-year-old multi-milionaire was given an offer for a one-year corporate bond.
It offered a whopping 8.1per cent a year but outlined no risks associated with the product.
This immediately set alarm bells ringing for his financial advisor Steve Adams, of Positive Solutions in Hockley.
The paperwork looked legitimate and bore the logo for a genuine company, Investec, and an FSA (Financial Services Authority) number.
But when he called Investec they knew nothing abouut it - and it was exposed as a fraud.
Mr Adams called the number given to his client and told them he had spoken with Investec, at which point they hung up.
He called the number a few more times, until the line went dead.
Mr Adams said it was not unheard of to come across such elaborate scams and urged others to be wary.
He said: “They are rare but they do happen.”
